Ethical Reasoning 18 Complete Notes

• Hard to use because requires so much heat, but once you have the technology to mold it, it is
revolutionary because it is so easy to do
• Iron could be available to & used by huge numbers of people of any social rank
• Complete break­down of aristocracy
• Growth of social mobility for the first time since beginning of Bronze Age
• Population increases, population pushes against the aristocracy, huge mass infantry
armies arose
• Warfare was no longer Bronze Age warriors on chariots
• Warfare became huge armies with iron weapons
• Warriors were peasants – once that happens they want to be promoted
o Rulers want to reward the good ones, so they look at merit rather than worth
o Creating states to run the armies
o A strong argument is made that the ones at lower ranks should be promoted
o Bureaucracies arose based on merit
• New political forums arose (aka democracy in Athens)
• Rule of free male citizens (small percentage of population)
• Not just aristocrats – popular decision­making in the state
• In China, this took on a distinctive form
•
• Xhou Dynasty was the last great dynasty in China, held the Mandate of
Heaven & would until they were deemed immoral
• However, as the Xhou began to decline, there wasn’t another major aristocratic
family to take over
• This was the beginning of the Iron Age
• All the revolutions across Eurasia also took place in China
• Xhou had been giving land to next highest aristocrats (fiefdoms)
o Once you get to the peasants, they control at a very local level & the king doesn’t really
control them directly
 Asks the aristocrat in that area to help him